Compatibility

Couchbase Version/SDK Version Matrix

Couchbase SDKs are tested against a variety of different environments to ensure both backward and forward compatibility with different versions of Couchbase Server.
The matrix below denotes the version of Couchbase Server, the version of the Python SDK and whether the SDK is:

✖ Unsupported: This combination is not tested, and is not within the scope of technical support if you have purchased a support agreement.

◎ Compatible: This combination has been tested previously, and should be compatible.
This combination is not supported or recommended by our technical support organization.
It is best to upgrade either the SDK or the Couchbase version you are using.

✔ Supported:This combination is subject to ongoing quality assurance, and is fully supported by our technical support organization.

Table 1. Recommended SDK per Server Version Matrix

SDK 2.1, 2.2

SDK 2.3

SDK 2.4

SDK 2.5

Server 4.0-4.5

◎

✔

✔

✔

Server 4.6

◎

✔

✔

✔

Server 5.0-5.5

◎

✔

✔

✔

Server 6.0

✖

✖

✖

✔

Note the End of Life dates for Couchbase Server and SDK versions.
See the notes there for Support details.

Feature Compatibility

To take advantage of all features offered by Couchbase Server, you need to know what version of the client provides compatibility for the features you want to use.
The following matrix shows which versions of the Python client support the major features of each version of Couchbase Server.

Note that some of the features are dependent on the underlying C library (libcouchbase).

Table 2. Couchbase Server and SDK Supported Version Matrix

Server 4.0, 4.1

Server 4.5, 4.6

Server 5.x

Server 6.0

Basic Features

CRUD Operations

All Versions

View Querying APIs

All Versions

Geospatial Views

All Versions

Advanced Features

Durability Requirements

All Versions

Carrier Publication Configuration

All Versions

SSL Connectivity

All Versions

Bulk Operations

All Versions

N1QL Querying

All Versions

Multi-Dimensional Scaling

All Versions

Sub-document API

Since 2.1

Full Text Search

Since 2.1 (Experimental)

Since 2.2

Global Secondary Indexes (GSI)

All Versions

Memory Optimized Indexes (MOI)

Not Supported

All SDK versions

Plasma Storage for Indexes

Not Supported

All SDK versions

FTS Index Management from the SDK

Not Supported

Since 2.1

Data Structures

Not Supported

Since 2.1

Extended Attributes

Not Supported

Since 2.2.5

RBAC

Not Supported

Since 2.2.6

Analytics

Not supported

DP in 5.5 with 2.4

Since 2.5

Administrative Features

Administrative API

All Versions

With RBAC, in Couchbase Server 5.0, authentication will depend upon access privileges, and upgrading to 5.0 with existing buckets, or upgrading Server, will require taking these changes into account.

Platform Compatibility

We support a number of Python versions on MacOS, Windows and Linux.

✖ Unsupported : This combination is not tested, and is not within the scope of technical support if you have purchased a support agreement.

◎ Compatible : This combination has been tested previously, and should be compatible.
This combination is not supported or recommended by our technical support organization.
It is best to upgrade either the SDK or the Couchbase version you are using.

✔ Supported :This combination is subject to ongoing quality assurance, and is fully supported by our technical support organization.

U Supported on Unix systems only : This combination is subject to ongoing quality assurance, and is fully supported by our technical support organization, but only on Unix-based systems, i.e. MacOS and Linux.

Interface Stability

Couchbase SDKs indicate the stability of an API through documentation.
Since there are different meanings when developers mention stability, we mean interface stability: how likely the interface is to change or be removed entirely.
A stable interface is one that is guaranteed not to change between versions, meaning that you may use an API of a given SDK version and be assured that the given API will retain the same parameters and behavior in subsequent versions.
An unstable interface is one which may appear to work or behave in a specific way within a given SDK version, but may change in its behavior or arguments in future SDK versions, causing odd application behavior or compiler/API usage errors.
Implementation stability is implied to be more reliable at higher levels, but all are tested to the level that is appropriate for their stability.

Couchbase uses three interface stability classifiers.
You may find these classifiers appended as annotations or comments within documentation for each API:

Committed: This stability level is used to indicate the most stable interfaces that are guaranteed to be supported and remain stable between SDK versions.

Uncommitted: This level is used to indicate APIs that are unlikely to change, but may still change as final consensus on their behavior has not yet been reached.
Uncommitted APIs usually end up becoming stable APIs.

Volatile: This level is used to indicate experimental APIs that are still in flux and may likely be changed.
It may also be used to indicate inherently private APIs that may be exposed, but "YMMV" (your mileage may vary) principles apply.
Volatile APIs typically end up being promoted to Uncommitted after undergoing some modifications.

Internal: This level is used to indicate you should not rely on this API as it is not intended for use outside the module, even to other Couchbase components.

APIs that are marked as Committed have a stable implementation.
Uncommitted and Volatile APIs should be stable within the bounds of any known and often documented issues, but Couchbase has not made a commitment to these APIs and may not respond to reported defects with the same priority.